Calling Merlin
by Arraela
Summary: What starts off as a normal afternoon of hunting for the prince and his manservant goes awry when a witch from the future attempts to summon Merlin.
1. summoning

"_Eos caputis mi cum mihi iungite"_ Hermione pointed her wand into the array of candles in front of her, knowing that soon she would be joined by the most powerful wizard of all time. She trembled in excitement but fear as well; she had done the research – the time from which she was to extract him would cause no damage to the space-time continuum, provided that he did not find out too much about the future. She was to let his destiny unfold as it should. In order for her interruption to go unnoticed in history, she had to summon him while his destiny was still in its infancy.

Hermione had just finished her education at Hogwarts and she had gotten a job at the reestablished ministry of magic in a top secret division that dealt with creating new spells, enchantments, potions, and types of magic. In her first month of work, she realized that she would not be able to progress with her research on wandless magic without the input of someone who was able to perform it on a regular basis. She had obtained about as much information as possible from kids; now the only person she could think of that had truly mastered wandless magic was dead. So she must reach into the past for the man who had invented modern magic, and so she summoned Merlin.

Merlin and Arthur were on yet another long and boring hunting trip, and Merlin was quickly growing tired of the prince's quips about his clumsiness.

"Stop scaring away the deer…" Arthur was prattling as he crouched low behind a bush.

"It's not me scaring them away," Merlin grumbled, "it's you berating me about it." Just then Merlin tripped on yet another root, and he fell with a thump into a shallow ditch in the ground. Merlin heard the sound of a bush moving behind him and in the most obvious way possible he shouted, "run!" The animal quickly obeyed and was out of Arthur's sight before he had a chance to pull his quiver.

"_Merlin_!" Arthur groaned, clearly annoyed at his manservant's penchant desire to foil every kill.

Merlin smirked, "Sire, that was an accident, I swear." Arthur shot him a doubtful look, "does this look like the fact of a liar to you?" Merlin gave his best innocent smile before Arthur rolled his eyes and replaced his bow in his pack.

"I think it best we be done for the day. The sun's going down and you are about the worst hunting companion that the heavens could give me."

"Don't blame me," Merlin quipped as he gathered himself up, brushing off the dirt from his clothes, "it's fate!"

Just as the words escaped his lips Merlin felt the air around him grow cold. He instantly sensed magic gripping at every fiber of his being, tugging him somewhere, but where he could not tell.

Arthur watched Merlin's expression flatten as he was pulled into some sort of reverie. "Merlin," Arthur called, staring quizzically at his manservant, "snap out of it. Let's go." The servant stood still, his face staring into the distance – as if looking at someone…

Merlin saw a girl, in a room that was large and dark, empty except for her. There was fire swirling in magical tendrils and weaving around the room, casting a faint glow on the girl, revealing bright golden eyes. She was muttering something, an incantation. But Merlin couldn't hear what she was saying…she was still too far away. It felt as if he was looking at her through a veil, like neither of them could quite see each other. Merlin focused harder, using his own magic to connect himself to this girl, this room, wherever he was. He needed something steady to hold on to, to tether him to somewhere – to take him out of the space that was in-between this place where he came from…in the woods with Arthur…Arthur! Merlin suddenly remembered, _no no NO_, Merlin thought, what was Arthur seeing? Merlin tried to pull himself away from the girl, back to Arthur in the woods, but he couldn't seem to loosen her hold on him. His eyes were shut – they must be shut, he could no longer see anything, and he unleashed his magic, hoping to break this mysterious bond with this girl – hoping to bring himself back to what he knew – the place in the woods where he was with Arthur.

Arthur continued to stare at his servant, who had shut his eyes and grown very pale. "Merlin," Arthur called again reaching out to place a hand on the boy's shoulder, he shook him violently, "Merlin!" Merlin did not stir, he merely stood completely still with his eyes closed. What the hell was going on with his manservant? He couldn't just be playing some sort of trick…could he? Arthur decided to try a new approach. He slapped his servant in the face, before pulling his hand away in alarm. Merlin was _hot._ Scorching. His skin could have been on fire! Now Arthur was worried, witchcraft had to be at fault here. The idiot must have triggered some sort of magical trap in the woods or something, perhaps something meant for Arthur, and Arthur had no doubt that Merlin would not be able to last too long in such heat. Arthur quickly wrapped his hands in a piece of fabric from his pack, enabling himself to touch his burning manservant as he begun to drag him to the lake. He needed cold water, and he needed it now.

Hermione felt her pull on Merlin increase, he was coming through the portal, she could feel it! She muttered the incantation again, strengthening her grip on Merlin, mentally pulling him closer to her time. He was coming closer…closer…and then he stopped. Hermione tried to pull at their connection, but there was a block, something was keeping him from coming to her… something was resisting her pull. She could think of only one thing that could cause that – and that would be Merlin himself. Surely he was just anxious about what was happening to him, she just needed to assure him that he was safe with her. Somehow it seemed natural for her to cast the _legimens _charm that pulled her into his mind, that allowed her to see through his eyes for the briefest moment. But in that moment, Hermione felt herself being lurched from where she stood, losing her grip on reality and falling into the fire of the mind of the greatest warlock of all time.

Arthur had finally reached the lake with his servant, and he leant the boy against a tree while he used a cup from his satchel to fetch some water. In that moment Merlin felt himself return to the world, from wherever he had been… from that girl with the fire and golden eyes. He let out a raspy breath as he opened his eyes, feeling very hot in his clothes. He stood up carefully; he could see Arthur's back as he was doing something in the lake, too busy to notice the manservant get to his feet. Merlin took off his neckerchief, why was he so bloody hot? Arthur turned from the lake, and his surprised eyes met Merlin's for a second before he let out a breath in relief. "Merlin!" His voice shook slightly, he mentally cursed himself for that, he was not to be worried about a servant! He handed Merlin the wet cloth, now that Merlin was awake, Arthur thought, he was perfectly capable of wiping his own forehead of the buckets of sweat that were dripping from his hairline, god knows that the _prince_ needn't do that for him. "Merlin, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I don't know," Merlin mumbled, his voice hoarse. Why was it so hoarse? He realized he was thirsty just as Arthur handed him the canteen. Merlin drank from it hungrily, the cold water running deliciously down his throat.

"I think we should get you to Gaius. I fear that there might be something magic in these woods." Merlin nodded agreement as Arthur continued, "are you okay to walk?" Merlin took a tentative step, he was a bit wobbly on his feet, but that would only make him about two times more clumsy than usual.

"I'll be fine." But Merlin and Arthur had only taken a few steps towards the castle when Arthur stopped short. Merlin ran into him abruptly, causing Arthur to fall forward and catch himself on a tree.

"MERLIN!" He yelled, shooting an enraged look at the warlock.

Merlin grinned sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Forget that," the prince motioned towards the tree he had caught himself on, he had nearly crushed what was lying beneath it. Or, more accurately, who. There lie the girl from Merlin's mind, only now her eyes were closed and she was slumped unconscious against the tree trunk. Merlin and Arthur shared a look of bewilderment before Arthur gently lay a hand on the girls shoulder and shook it. She moaned for a moment, tilting her head to the side, her eyes beginning to flutter open lazily. She seemed to focus on Arthur for a moment…

"Oh Merlin." She whispered, her eyes catching Merlin's. "Y-you're Merlin."

A/N: Please review! More soon.


	2. Camelot

Chapter 2: Camelot

"How do you know Merlin?" Arthur asked, staring at the girl in confusion. Merlin didn't seem to recognize her, perhaps she was sent to give him a message from Ealdor? And why were her clothes so weird?

She seemed to notice that just as the thought graced Arthur's mind, "I'm from a distant land," she said, "I'm here to see Merlin."

Merlin was very fearful of what the girl would say – she clearly had magic, but she did not seem evil. She was not evil. Was she? However at the moment she didn't seem like she was about to reveal Merlin's secret to the young prince, but rather, just that she wished to convey some message to him. Well convey away, he bade her in his mind, as long as she did not reveal his magic, or her own, to the prince.

"How do I know Merlin?" Hermione repeated, a bit confused as to why the blond boy would ask such a question, _everyone_ knows Merlin. Hermione glanced at the warlock again… _right!_ He was young, too young for him to have become known as the greatest warlock in history. To them he was probably just a normal kid, like Harry Potter in the muggle world.

"I'm Hermione." Hermione began, accepting Arthur's outstretched hand as he helped her to her feet. She needed to come up with a story, and fast.

Just as she was contemplating this, Merlin interjected, "Oh, Hermione!" A look of relief washed over his face, "my mother told me you were coming to Camelot, but not so soon!"

"H-huh?" Hermione managed, startled, _was he covering for her?_

"You should come with us back to Camelot," Merlin said, determinately. It seemed more of an order than a request.

"You know her?" Arthur questioned with a bit of doubt.  
"Yes. Well no." Merlin shrugged, "my mother does, she's my…cousin. My mom told me she was coming to visit me and my uncle in Camelot. But this is the first time we've met each other. Pleased to meet you, Hermione." He extended a slender hand, Hermione shook it, tentatively, while in her mind she marveled that she herself was shaking the hand of the greatest wizard of all time!

Arthur looked between the two of them, not quite understanding the look that Merlin was giving the girl. Arthur told himself to ignore it; Merlin was probably still just a little stunned from everything that had happened that day. The look he was giving the girl... he probably didn't _intend_ for it to look commanding, it was just an accident that happened to play across his features in his state of confusion. Arthur looked towards the sky and the sun was almost set. It would be dark soon and he'd rather not be in this part of the woods at night, especially after what had just happened to Merlin.

"Well come on then," Arthur gestured to Merlin and the girl, "off to Camelot." As they walked the prince introduced himself, but was surprised to see that the girl was not very shocked at his name or rank. But rather, she seemed more puzzled by Merlin's position as Arthur's servant.

"Merlin – he's your _servant?"_ The girl asked, complete bewilderment apparent in her voice. The prince could not fathom why she thought that was odd.

"Yup." Merlin sighed, "it's quite a pain to be the servant of the royal prat." Merlin whispered towards Hermione, knowing that Arthur would still be able to hear. Arthur merely laughed. This exchange was even stranger to Hermione; this sort of relationship between the men was never indicated in the old Arthurian myths. She'd assumed those myths were actually histories – converted to myth status for the benefit of the muggle world, but perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps the Arthurian legend did not unfold as described in the many books she read. Hermione needed to find out what was real, what was right – in order to ensure that she did not interrupt the space-time continuum.

Clearly parts of the myth were correct, as Prince Arthur and Merlin did exist, but Hermione could be sure of very little else. Furthermore, Merlin did not act like the greatest sorcerer in history. In fact, he was just a servant! Perhaps he has not yet discovered his powers? Hermione shook that theory off, even she, an average witch was aware of her powers at a very young age. Why then, Hermione wondered, did he not use his powers? The prince was constantly heckling him about his clumsiness, as he was doing now, when Merlin needn't deal with such taunts. The Merlin of the legends had the most fantastic abilities; he could not be lowered into a servant or an object of the prince's jest. Hermione concluded that there was something very different in reality about the presence of Merlin's powers – if he indeed had them he chose not to use them – or, perhaps, they were not all that impressive at this juncture in time. Hermione could not help but be saddened by that conjecture, she had wished to see Merlin's great magical ability, with the hopes that she might be able to burnish her own skill through her interactions with him.

When the castle of Camelot first came into view, Hermione sucked in a sharp breath, startled by the majestic sight. Merlin smiled at her, "it's quite impressive, I know. I felt that way too when I first saw it."

The three made their way through the gates and Hermione could not help but gape at the sights before her. The market stalls and hustle and bustle of the streets, the guards in their royal garb and the sounds of the medieval city – they all fascinated her – they were like nothing she had ever seen before.

However, it wasn't too long before she begun to notice the stares directed at her. She was hardly surprised, after all, her attire was from the future, and nothing of the sort had ever been created before. She needed to transfigure her clothes into something more appropriate of the time…but she needed to go somewhere to do it. But wait! Hermione thought, she's in Camelot. According to the myths, people used magic regularly in Camelot, didn't they? Hermione found herself wondering about this as she watched a maid lugging painfully at a large barrel, which suddenly fell into a large pothole and threatened to flail all of its contents – rice? – Into a thousand directions. Yet a second later the cart was upright again, none of its contents spilled. Hermione blinked, how did that happen? She was sure that it would fall…why hadn't it? Her thoughts turned to Merlin, had he stopped it with magic?

Merlin seemed to notice the quizzical look she gave him, "is something wrong, Hermione?" he asked as they passed through the gates into the castle.

"I just saw something that didn't seem possible, that's all." Hermione replied. Experimenting, she continued, "It was almost like magic."

At that word the prince spun rapidly towards the girl, stopping the three of them in their tracks. "I don't know how the rules are where you came from." Arthur addressed Hermione, "but here we do not speak of magic lest it be necessary. It would be a shame to spread false rumor about the evils of magic being practiced here again. " Arthur seemed to register the look of horror on Hermione's face, "I'm just saying, mind your words. Especially in the palace, I wouldn't want a pretty face like yours to end up on the end of a noose." Arthur swiftly turned away and began down a separate corridor, Hermione stared after him in shock.

"Have dinner ready for me at 6, Merlin." Arthur ordered with a small farewell hand gesture as he rounded a corner.

Hermione had barely registered his words when Merlin grasped her arm and dragged her into a small gully in the corridor, one she had not even noticed as they passed it. "What were you thinking?" Merlin questioned, a tad angrily, "mentioning magic in front of the _Prince of Camelot_. Do you want to be hanged?"

"H-Hanged?" Hermione barely managed, comprehension dawning. Magic was illegal. Magic was punishable by death.

A/N: Hey all! I hope you're enjoying this fic. Let me know if you have any ideas to improve it, grammatically or otherwise!


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